More Power to IIMs: Can Now Award Degrees Instead of Diploma

IIMs have always been the center of attraction with respect to their principle of operation, student strength and much more. Not only the institute is known for its faculty and world- class programs but they are also popular for their selection procedure i.e. CAT, a highly competitive management examination. At the initial stage, it was observed that IIMs existed without the support of entities such as UGC as well as AICTE, on the other hand, the institutes managed to provide Post-Graduate Diplomas in Business Management.

It is quite self-explanatory that the diplomas which were provided by IIMs had no less importance than the MBA degrees which were provided by other renowned academic institutions. According to resources, after a recent bill which was passed in 2017, IIMs are actually bestowed with the power of awarding MBA degrees to its students.

This step was possible due to the attempts which were taken by Ministry of Human Resources Development, this is a fact that the efforts were meant to include the IIMs under a common flagship. This attempt was successful due to the significant contribution of Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The Bill Resulting in Evolution:

According to resources, Indian Institutes of Management Bill which was passed in both the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha has created an appreciable change in the standard working procedure of IIMs. This bill was also approved by President Ram Nath Kovind on December 31, 2017. At a later stage, the bill was declared to be a law which stated that the Indian Institutes of Management will possess more autonomy and their operations will include a specific role of the government. As a consequence of this famous law, IIM students can now enjoy the privilege of possessing degrees rather than diplomas which were provided earlier to them.

It is obvious that this bill was thoroughly analyzed before being approved and this analysis has led to the conclusion that this bill is entirely a game-changer for IIMs and this legislation will help to improve the academic background of India. In this era, it has been observed that several excellent educational institutes are not being ranked properly and due to this, they do not receive the necessary recognition. This bill and its related consequences will definitely ensure a better screening of the educational institutions and their proper ranking.

What Will be the Major Changes in the Operations of IIMs?

Through IIM Bill, the institutes are officially given the power to declare themselves as autonomous institutes. This is due to the fact that IIMs have been playing pivotal roles in governing the important changes across India in terms of education, entrepreneurship, business, and much more. It is always desirable that IIMs continue in their path of creating innovations and examples in a continuous manner. Supporting the thought, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has revealed his optimistic thought which is in favor of the autonomous establishment of the IIMs in India as he believes that without any interference caused by the government, these magnificent institutes will continue to create wonders in near future.

Considering the probable changes, it is evident that due to the legislation, there will a number of modifications in the operating principle of IIMs, some of which will be revealed later after the decisions are being taken. For now, the most important information which is being revealed by the authorities state the existence of an executive body within the administration of IIMs. This executive body will be referred to as the Board of Governors and this particular body will be responsible for every minute operations occurring in the IIMs.

According to resources, this Board of Governors will be formed of a total number of 19 members, out of these 19 members, 2 will be selected by the union and the state government and the rest of the 17 members will be preferably chosen from the eminent faculties as well as the alumni of the institute. According to some resources, the inclusion of alumni into the Board of Governors may be minimum 5 or more than that and these set of people will take the most important decisions such as even the appointment of the Registrar or the Director.

Now the question arises why this much importance is given regarding the inclusion of the alumni strength in the Board of Governors. In this case, one cannot deny the enormous amount of contributions in which the IIM alumni have contributed. Beginning from the incubation centers of IIM Calcutta which are designed for the purpose of boosting up the growth of start-ups in essential regions to the brilliant Jawaja experiment which was conducted by Ravi Matthai, the alumni strength of the IIMs has never failed to create wonders. Keeping this fact in mind, their importance was enhanced in every respect.

What Can be the Possible Benefits of IIMs?

It is a fact that after gaining this autonomy, IIMs will have the liberty to rebuild their deliverables, they will have the power to govern their innovations in a new direction. On the other hand, there is another benefit which IIMs will definitely experience. Nowadays, several foreign institutes enjoy the privilege of hosting management aspirants from all over the world, it is believed that after the proper implementation of this law, IIMs will have more scope towards a better pipeline. In a nutshell, this particular law will bring evolution in the field of education by changing the basic structure of operation of IIMs.

In this era, more than thousands of aspirants aim to join the IIMs, this law will also ensure whether there is a proper screening of the talent with respect to admission. As IIMs will have more power in their hands, they will be free towards conducting more number of effective experiments in near future which will help to raise the educational standard of our country in every aspect.